Taylor Swift is an icon, writer, singer, and now director who has touched her listeners and empowered young girls and women for years. Her music reflects life experiences that people of all ages have been through or can relate to in some way. Her career began at a young age; as her pure talent drew attention right away and started to impact girls. As Taylor has said in many of her songs, she grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania. She was a teenage girl with friend problems and boy issues, all while having to learn and grow in adolescence. At the age of 14, Swift signed with Sony/ATV Music, and at just 16, she released her first debut, Taylor Swift. Her career skyrocketed from this point, and her message reached girls and women all over the world. 

Swift has a passion for writing and literature, and her talent can be identified through her songwriting skills. Swift has written or co-written all of her songs, reflecting experiences many have gone through. Mrs.Park, the AVID teacher at C.H.S admires  Swift and states, “She writes like a poet, but in a way that we understand, she gives just enough little details for us as the viewer to talk about it and be interested in it, but not know so much about it.” This way of relatability and curiosity that Swift’s music has created makes her listeners want more, to be able to uncover the truths and meanings in her songs. Senior Jadie Bastian-Beatley has grown up listening to Taylor Swift and loves how she “tells a story with her lyrics and you can really understand what she was going through.” She adds that listening to Swift’s music has a different meaning now than when she listened to her music at 8 years olds; “When I listen to her music now, I understand more of the meanings behind the lyrics, and the storytelling in the writing.” Jadie and Mrs. Park are only a couple of swifties who roam the halls of C.H.S, zoning into her music throughout the day is a norm for Many. 

(Mrs. Park and her son)

Aside from her influence on society overall, her accomplishments are can be seen in awards and recognitions. Taylor has received the most AMAs of any artist and is the youngest to win a grammy for Album of the Year. She is credited as the writer for every one of her songs and has over 50 million albums sold. 

Recently, she has begun to rerelease her early albums to show her fans the original lyrics and recordings of some of her most famous songs. Along with dropping the original recordings and “Her Version” of the songs, she also released never before heard tracks that she wanted to add to the albums but couldn’t. Songs such as All Too Well and Red were released with the words, she wanted to say at first. All Too Well (Taylor’s Version) is a 10-minute version of the original song on Red. This version grew in fame immediately after it dropped, girls and boys everywhere were talking about the release, memorizing the new lyrics, and of course, uncovering the many easter eggs that she added in the music video. Jadie and Mrs. Park agree that Taylor’s Version of All Too Well is their current favorite song and many other swifties hold the same opinion.  

As an homage to Taylor Swift in the month of her birth and celebrating her new album release, KTR staff digs deep into her significance and spotlight, who she is, and her influence on her listeners.